Did GoDaddy Just Kill The Last Reason To Use Their Services?

Renewal Discounts Are Going The Way of the Dinosaur.

I have a number of domain names registered with GoDaddy (among a couple of other registrars). Say what you will about GoDaddy, but from a purely number-crunching standpoint, it saves you the most money in the long term. Typically you can register a domain name for 99 cents for the first year (with the right promo code), and then renew for multiple years at a 30-40% discount.

But those renewal codes, one by one, have been disappearing. There hasn’t been any announcement from GoDaddy on this issue. They have just let those codes expire and now the only promo codes out there that work will only work for new products.

It’s a true tragedy. Throughout all the controversies, bad PR, and an incredibly idiotic CEO, many customers have stuck with GoDaddy because it made the most financial sense.

One theory as to why GoDaddy has been doing this lately is the upcoming IPO. Now this is purely speculation, but they may be trying to cover up perceived “leaks” in their business model where they charge less than they need to. Unfortunately for us this means that the codes are going away and likely to never come back. With a $100 million IPO coming up, I don’t think GoDaddy’s focus is on the customers.

Hopefully another domain registrar is able to step and begin offering a better service than GoDaddy.